


Touch of a Promise of Something More

by FairyTaleAdventures



Category: The Good Doctor (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, didn't really end up that way, this started off as a lighthearted fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:15:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26942737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FairyTaleAdventures/pseuds/FairyTaleAdventures
Summary: It looked like nothing more than a piece of paper that had been ripped out of one of the hospital’s newsletters. Squinting at the page, she realised that's exactly what it was. Her eyebrow raised in suspicion."It's a job opening at Mountain View,” he explained.Audrey frowned at the paper. “And why are you giving this to me?”“Because I'm thinking of applying.”Her head shot up, meeting his eyes. He was being serious. She could tell by the way his face was stoic, not a hint of uncertainty in his tone. Her only question was, why?_______________________Another post-breakup/getting back together fic.
Relationships: Audrey Lim/Neil Melendez
Comments: 5
Kudos: 33





	Touch of a Promise of Something More

“What's this?” Audrey asked.

She was sitting at a picnic table just outside the hospital. Despite the morning cool breeze that signalled the beginnings of the fall season, Audrey wasn't bothered in the slightest, sitting comfortably in nothing but a light jacket, working peacefully on paperwork. The bystanders walking past her during the busy time of the day created a soothing buzz in her ear, allowing her to tune out all around and focus on the task at hand. That's how Neil was able to slip onto the bench beside her, unannounced, placing a piece of paper in front of her without a word.

Curiously, She picked it up, scanning the document. Nothing immediate caught her eye. It looked like nothing more than a piece of paper that had been ripped out of one of the hospital’s newsletters. Squinting at the page, she realised that's exactly what it was. Her eyebrow raised in suspicion.

"It's a job opening at Mountain View,” he explained.

Audrey frowned at the paper. “And why are you giving this to me?” 

“Because I'm thinking of applying.”

Her head shot up, meeting his eyes. He was being serious. She could tell by the way his face was stoic, not a hint of uncertainty in his tone. Her only question was, why? He had been at St. Bonaventure for so long - even longer than her. Like her, it was his second home. A place he had come to cherish after having spent years indulging in it’s wonders - with Audrey right by his side. Together, they had suffered through the tribulation that was residency, struggling to find their place within the hospital until they eventually found it, standing next to one another as they each flourished in their respective fields. 

Among all that time, all those moments that were theirs, she couldn't understand his sudden desire to pick up and leave it all behind. Leave her behind. Just the mere thought made Audrey’s heart rate increase and she knew without a doubt he could see the hurt evident on her face, underneath her clear confusion. 

Taking a long moment to collect her thoughts, her eyes faltered from his potent stare to the document in her hand, rapidly scanning the page until she found what she was looking for. Right there, at the bottom right hand corner in bold letters were the words detailing the job offer. 

She silently read each word carefully before finding her voice. “What do you mean you're thinking about applying? Are you unhappy with your job here.” 

He shook his head. “No, I love it here. You know that.”

“Then why?”

“Because I love you more.”

She blinked. 

“Audrey, we've been broken up for six months and in that time, my feelings for you haven't changed, not even a little bit. If this is what I have to do for us to be together, then I'll do it.”

He stared at her so intensely, she had to tear her gaze from his to swallow the lump forming in her throat.

“Neil-”

They hadn't talked about it. Ever since that night in his office when she had confessed their breakup was affecting her more than she was letting on, the subject hadn't been brought up. For the sake of their friendship that was barely hanging on by a thread, they carefully avoided all topics that had the potential to lead to more. Even the topic of weekend plans was carefully avoided. Audrey wasn't sure if it was because neither of them wanted to know what the other had planned in fear it would involve a possible significant other, or if it was because if neither of them did have weekend plans, they would somehow find a way to spend it together. 

Somehow, the latter seemed scarier.

The love was still there. They both knew it. Underneath the walls they had both put up around their hearts to evade the looming sequel of heartbreak, the unwavering feeling of affection never died down. How could it? They had spent years consciously avoiding the truth and then within seconds, made the decision to finally give into their desires, finally let themselves be happy. Those feelings don’t just disappear over the course of a couple months - especially when you see that person every day, constantly reminding you of all the reasons you fell in love with them in the first place. 

That was the problem. Their breakup wasn’t because either of them fell out of love. Their breakup was a result of two people who had finally found someone they could love more than their careers. And that was the issue that seemed to come around full circle. 

“You're not quitting.” She handed him the paper back. 

“Audrey-”

“No," she cut him off. “I'm not letting you quit St. Bonaventure, not for me.”

Without another word, she packed up her belongings and walked away, leaving a confused and heartbroken Neil sitting alone on the bench.

.

Neil knew how he felt. 

It wasn't a secret - at least not anymore. He had spent so many months trying to suppress his feelings, attempting to go back to how things were before, but he couldn't do it. Not just because she was someone he saw everyday and was a constant reminder of what they once both shared, but because he didn't want to push down all those emotions that he had finally let free.

At first, after that dreadful night where she showed up on his doorstep, emotional and mind made up, he thought they would spend a few days apart. Spend some time alone to put their relationship into perspective and then come to the realisation that a breakup wasn't what either of them wanted. She would go home to her house for the first time in weeks, wrap herself in her own sheets, reach out for him on his side of the bed, and then realise she made a mistake. But that's not what happened. Days soon turned into weeks, which turned into months. Now, here he was six months later, still as much in love with Audrey as the night they separated. 

And she wouldn't even consider his proposal. 

It was late when he arrived at her apartment. Neil didn't even hesitate when he got into his car after work. He drove straight to her place, never second guessing himself or stopping to consider how the night could end. It could only end in a matter of two ways, and one of those ways was the determination that kept his foot pressed against the gas pedal until he was parked in front of her place.

He only had to knock once before he heard her footsteps approach and the front door swung open.

By her demeanour, Neil could tell she wasn't surprised it was him. It was almost as if she was expecting him to show up on her doorstep at this hour - as if she were waiting for him to arrive. 

Audrey summoned up a friendly smile to greet him with, pulling back the door further so he could enter.

Her home was exactly as he remembered it, not an item out of place. Even the photo of the two of them standing side by side with their arms wrapped around each other's waists was still displayed on her mantle among all her other photographs. Granted, it was there before they had gotten together, so he wasn't too surprised, but the realisation she hadn't taken it down still brought a smile to his face.

Once the front door was locked securely behind them and she was standing in front of him, prompting him to speak first, he didn't waste any time. “Tell me you don't still have feelings for me,” he challenged, cutting right to the chase. “Tell me that and I'll walk out of here and promise I won't ever bring up the topic again.”

“You know I can't do that,” she replied.

“Then I'm telling you, I'm going to apply for that position.”

“No.”

“Why?”

"You said it yourself, you love working at St. Bonaventure.”

“I also remember declaring my love for you.”

Her head dropped in weariness. “That’s not my point.”

“Then what is your point?” It took all of Neil’s self-control not to become frustrated. He was really trying. He had thought up every possible option, weighing the pros amongst the cons. This was the one that seemed to be the most logical. With the two of them no longer working in the same building, they would have the freedom to unreservedly enjoy their time together without the fear of their work life getting in the way. 

All he was asking for was for her to meet him halfway. 

Slowly, she raised her head to meet his gaze, eyes filled with tears. One look at her conflicted expression and he knew she wasn't intentionally being difficult. There was something holding her back. A fear weighing heavily in her chest that she longed to share but couldn’t quite get out the words.

“Audrey-” Neil said, his voice soft and free of any accusations. He moved towards her so he could grab her hand in his. She tensed ever so slightly before giving into his touch. “What’s holding you back?”

“You'll hate me.”

“What?”

“If I let you quit and things don’t work out the second time around you’ll hate me.” A tear slipped down her cheek. “And I can’t have you hate me.”

Her name escaped his lips once more, this time, nothing more than a strained whisper. 

He hadn't considered her fears.

He could never hate her. It was impossible. Above all else, she was his friend, his partner, someone he had grown to rely on. No, he could never hate her, but Neil could see all the reasons why she would arrive at that conclusion.

The last time around, he had blamed their problems on her, even though he knew they were both at fault. He had pushed her. Highlighted all the reasons why their relationship was a terrible mistake and then blamed her when she used those reasons as an excuse to end things.

It wasn’t fair to her. 

Swiftly, he gathered her into his embrace, wrapping his arms around her back, one hand reaching to caress her head. She let him comfort her, wrapping her own arms around his waist, holding him tightly, her face buried in the soft cotton of his tailored jacket.

“That could never happen.” Neil reassured into her hair. He turned his head slightly to press a kiss against her hair. “That would never happen.”

Neil wasn’t certain how long they stood there, holding each other close in a bid to offer the other some solace. It could have been seconds or minutes, but this was the first time in so long they held each other so intimately, they were content simply standing there becoming lost in the moment.

After a while, Neil pulled back just enough to meet her eyes, his forehead coming to rest against hers.

Using the pad of his thumb, he wiped her tears away and said, “I’m sorry if I ever made you feel like that was ever a possibility.”

Her lips curved slightly, but there was a rawness in her expression, a trauma so foreign to Neil, he wasn’t certain where to go from here. 

Audrey spoke. “I want to be with you.” She assured. “I just don’t know how to do that.”

“Do you want me to quit my job?”

“No.”

“Then I won’t.” That was decided. If she didn’t want him to, he wouldn’t put either of them through that pain. They would find another way around their dilemma. They had to. “But what do we do about work? We’ve both made it pretty clear we want to give us another shot.” 

Her eyes closed tightly. For a moment, Neil was unsure if she was trying to hold back more tears or if she was contemplating a way out of this conversation. But then she opened her eyes, sighed, and leaned into him once more, the side of her head resting against his.

“I don’t know.”

He held her closely, allowing her to take all the comfort she needed. Assuring her through his comforting touch that he was there, and this time, he wasn’t going anywhere. 

“We don’t have to decide tonight.” Neil said. “We can take a couple days to talk it over, figure out how we’re going to do this.”

Audrey nodded into him. “Okay.”

“Okay,” he agreed.

When they pulled back, both were reluctant to let the other go. This was the closest they'd been in six months and they weren’t quite ready for it to be over.

Thankfully, Audrey posed a solution. “Stay with me?”

“Of course.” A pause. “But maybe we spend the night on the couch. Just until we’ve gotten a chance to talk this over.”

She smiled shyly. “Agreed.”

Audrey's couch wasn't large, but it was big enough for the both of them to lay comfortably pressed against one another and still have room to move. While not as comfortable as her bed, neither of them were complaining. Had they spent the night in her room, they likely would sleep the same way as they would tonight - arms wrapped around each other, unwilling to let the other go. But at least this way, there was no pressure.

She grabbed a blanket from her linen closet and joined Neil who was already on the couch, jacket shed and shoes off, lying comfortably lengthwise, waiting for her to join him. As she approached, he reached out to her, welcoming her into his embrace. She didn’t hesitate like he thought she would. Instead, she fell into his arms, tucking herself into his side, draping a blanket over them, as his hands found hers beneath it, intertwining their fingers. 

They stayed like that for a long while, both awake, knowing the other was too worked up to fall sleep. In reality, their talk hadn’t been that productive. Neither knew exactly how they were going to tackle their working relationship. There were still many uncertainties that hung copiously between them, but the main thing was, they both knew what they wanted. They wanted each other. If that was the only thing to come out of the evening, then it really wasn’t so bad.

Audrey tilted her head enough to meet Neil’s eyes and she found him staring back at her, expression full of love. 

With a coy smile upon his lips, he brought his lips to hers, his kiss light, the touch of a promise of something more. 

It was over as quickly as it began, but the touch of his lips left a lasting impression.

“I love you,” Neil whispered.

“I love you too,” Audrey replied, her lips ghosting over his. 

The promise that they would talk about it was all they needed that night to find a sense of peace.


End file.
